Showing posts with label Human Body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human Body. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Saccade


We just learned about Peripheral Vision.

Another part of the eye is the Saccade.

When your eyes move, sometimes they move fast and sometimes they move slow.
If you quickly switch from looking at one spot to looking at another spot, that is called a saccade.

So if you are holding your open hand out, you can stare at your thumb and then quickly switch to staring at your pinky.
You don't need to slowly move your eyes along across the middle of your hand until you stop at your pinky, you just zip right over and look at it, and you can switch back and forth easily.

The word saccade is French for jerk, like a jerking movement as your eyes move around.


(from: wikipedia - saccade)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Filiform Papillae

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Peripheral Vision


We just learned about the Field of View.

Another part of the eye is Peripheral Vision.

When you are looking straight ahead at something, you can still see things a little bit that are on the left and right sides of your head.

The word "peripheral" means on the outside or on the edge of something.
So peripheral vision is looking at things that are on the outside edge of what you are seeing.


(from: wikipedia - peripheral vision)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Taste Buds

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Field of View


We just learned about the Central Retinal Vein.

Another part of the eyes is the Field of View.

When we are looking forward with our eyes, we see the things in front of us, but not behind us.
We also can only see part of what is up, down, left or right without moving our head to see it all.

Some of this is because parts of our head that get in the way like cheekbones or eyebrows.
Part of it is because our eyeballs are pointed forward.
Some animals like a rabbit or a deer have eyes on the sides of their heads, so they can see almost all the way in front and in back of their bodies.

The whole space of things that you can see with your eyes without moving them is called your Field of View, or FoV.



(from: wikipedia - peripheral vision)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lingual Papillae

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Central Retinal Vein


We just learned about the Central Retinal Artery.

Another part of the eye is the Central Retinal Vein.

The artery brings blood to the eye, and this vein in the back of the eye then takes that deoxygenated used up blood and brings it back to the heart.

(from: wikipedia - central retinal vein)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Specialized Mucosa

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Central Retinal Artery


We just learned about the Optic Disc.

Another part of the eye is the Central Retinal Artery.

This is in the back of the eye at the retina, where the fresh oxygenated blood is brought to the eye for it to use.

(from: wikipedia - central retinal artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lining Mucosa

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Optic Disc


We just learned about the Opthalmic Artery.

Another part of the eye is the Optic Disc.

At the back of the eye there is a place where all the nerves come together and go out to the brain.
Because this spot has nerves, there are no rods or cones there, so it is like a blind spot in your sight.

There are some fun eye tests that you can do to actually show that you have a blind spot where things disappear from your sight!


(from: wikipedia - optic disc)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Masticatory Mucosa

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Opthalmic Artery


We just learned about the Eye Movement.

Another part of the eye is the Opthalmic Artery.

This is what brings the blood up to all of the different parts of the eye.

There are a lot of other arteries that come out of this artery, like the central retinal artery, lacrimal artery, posterior ciliary arteries, muscular branches, supraorbital artery, ethmoidal arteries, medial palpebral arteries and terminal branches.

That's a lot of different arteries for such a small part of the body, but the eye has so many different things going on that there it needs blood in each different place!


(from: wikipedia - opthalmic artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Oral Mucosa

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Eye Movement


We just learned about the Fovea in the back of the eye.

Another part of the eye is the group of Eye Movement that move the eye around.

There are six main muscles that move the eye.
Four of them are the "rectus" muscles, and they are attached to the top (superior) bottom (inferior) inside (medial) and outside (lateral) parts of the eye.

Whichever muscle is being used, the eye looks in that direction.
So if the superior muscle is being used, the eye looks up.
If the lateral muscles is being used, the eye looks outward.

The other two muscles are "oblique" muscles, top (superior) and bottom (inferior).
These muscles help control any twisting of the eye, or moving in diagonal directions.


(from: wikipedia - eye movement)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gingiva

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Fovea


We just learned about the Photoreceptor Cells.

Another part of the eye is the Fovea, sometimes called the fovea centralis, central fovea or fovea of the retina.
The word fovea just means a pit or a depression, and there are other parts of the body that have small pits so sometimes people have to say fovea centralis of the retina to make sure everyone knows which fovea they are talking about.

In the back of the eye by the macula on the retina is a small pit that is full of the cones we talked about.

This part of the eye is where the best sight comes from, when you are focused on looking at something while reading a book or driving a car.


(from: wikipedia - fovea centralis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Periodontal Ligament

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Photoreceptor Cells


We just learned about the Cone Cells.

Another part of the eye is the Photoreceptor Cells.

These are the rods and cones that we already learned about.
The different photoreceptor cells all take light and turn it into chemicals and electrical signals that tell the brain what you are seeing.


(from: wikipedia - photoreceptor cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Alveolar Process

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Cone Cells


We just learned about the Rod Cells.

Another part of the human eye is the Cone Cells.

Cones are different than rods, because they help us see in color.
There are only about 6 million cone cells in the eye, versus about 90 million for rods.
Rods are mostly used just for dark and light, but cones have a different shape so they bring in different types of light.

There are three types of cones in the human eye: S-cones, M-cones and L-cones.
Each type brings in a different type of light.

Remember before we learned about the colors in ROY-G-BIV, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
The colors are put in that order for their "wavelength" which basically just means how the light travels through the air.

The long wavelengths start at the R, G is in the middle, and V is the shortest.
They overlap, and L, M and S cones share some color vision.

L-cones help us see Red, Orange, Yellow and Green.
M-cones help us see Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue.
S-cones help us see Green, Blue and Violet.


(from: wikipedia - cone cell)



(from: wikipedia - color vision)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dental Alveoli

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Rod Cells


We just learned about the Zonule of Zinn.

Another part of the eye is the Rod Cells.

In the back of the eye at the retina there are things called Rods that help take in light and turn it into a message for your brain to understand what you are seeing.

An adult human has about 92 million rods in one eye!
These rods mostly help see brightness and darkness, and help people see better at night.


(from: wikipedia - rod cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: amelogenesis

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Zonule of Zinn


We just learned about the Uvea.

Another part of the eye is the Zonule of Zinn.

This are the tiny little things like strings that go from the ciliary body to the lens.
Remember the lens is like the magnifying glass that changes shape so you can see far or close,
and the ciliary body is where the muscles are that help push and pull the lens to change it's shape.

It might sound like someone just wanted to come up with a funny name for a part of the body, but the word "zonule" means like tiny zone or tiny area, and the person who discovered this part of the body was named Johann Gottfried Zinn, so he named the area the Zonules of Zinn.

Sometimes it is also called Zinn's membrane, or the ciliary zonule, but Zonule of Zinn sounds the most fun.


(from: wikipedia - zonule of zinn)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tooth - Bell Stage

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Uvea


We just learned about the Choroid.

Another part of the human eye is the Uvea, also called the vascular tunic.

This is the name for the group of three parts of the eye that we've already learned about: Iris, Ciliary Body, and Choroid.


(from: wikipedia - uvea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tooth - Cap Stage

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Choroid


We just learned about the Ciliary Body.

Another part of the human eye is the Choroid.

Remember we learned that the sclera is the white part of the outside of the eye, and the retina is the inside of the eye in the back.

The choroid is a layer in between the sclera and retina.
It helps give blood to the retina, helps hold things together, and also it is dark and helps make sure the retina picks up the light coming in from the pupil.


(from: wikipedia - choroid)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tooth Buds

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Ciliary Body


We just learned about the Fibrous Tunic where the Cornea and Sclera are.

Another part of the eyes is the Ciliary Body.

This is made up of two parts: the ciliary muscle, and the ciliary epithelium

The muscle is what squeezes the lens inside the eye to change its shape so you can look at things far away or close up.

The epithelium is what makes the aqueous humour that fills the front of the eye where the pupil is.


(from: wikipedia - ciliary body)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tooth - Initiation

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Fibrous Tunic


We just learned about the Aqueous Humour.

Another part of the eye is the Fibrous Tunic.

We learned before about the clear cornea bubble at the front of the eye, and the white sclera that makes the outside white part of the eye.

These two parts together are called the fibrous tunic.
The word tunic is an old word for clothing that people wore long ago.

Sometimes the words cornea and sclera are smushed together and just called the corneosclera.


(from: wikipedia - fibrous tunic of eyeball)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Odontoblast

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Aqueous Humour


We just learned about the Vitreous Body gel inside the eye.

Another part of the eye is the Aqueous Humour.

We know that the eye has different layers.
1 - On the very outside is the cornea, the clear part of the eye that you can touch with your finger.
2 - Then there is the pupil which is the hole letting light in, and the colored iris that helps control the size of the pupil.
3 - Behind those is the lens, which is like a magnifying glass that changes shape to help you focus.

In between those layers is some watery liquid that helps keep everything tightly held in place.
This is the Aqueous Humour, and you can think of it kind of like how a water balloon helps keeps the shape of the balloon.

Aqueous is because it is watery, and Humour means like a liquid.
So the name really means watery liquid.


(from: wikipedia - aqueous humour)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Odontoblast

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Vitreous Body


We just learned about the Macula in the back of the eye.

Another part of the human eye is the Vitreous Body.

Inside the eye, most of it is filled up with a kind of clear gooey gel.
It's clear like water, but is thicker almost like jelly.

This is called the vitreous body, or sometimes the vitreous humor.
It helps the eye keep its shape, and it helps keep the vision clear between the lens and the retina.


(from: wikipedia - vitreous body)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tooth Root

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Macula


We just learned about the Sclera whites of the eyes.

Another part of the eye is the Macula.

This is an oval shaped darker spot on the retina in the back of the eye.
The macula helps you see very detailed colors in bright daylight.

If there is a big picture with lots of colors and shapes, your macula helps you see it all clearly.
Sometimes when people get old their macula doesn't work as well anymore, which can cause blurry vision.


(from: wikipedia - macula of retina)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Crown